Whilst I was waiting for the last bits for my SB-66 to arrive, I accidentally stumbled across the awesome deals Billys were/are doing on Salsas.
I needed a bike for XC duties round the New Forest, and never having owned a 29er before, I thought I would give one a bash.
The spec reads as follows-
2013 Salsa Mamasita 29er frame (size large)
Salsa seat collar
Gusset mix’n’match inset headset
Exotic carbon 29er rigid forks
Maxm 27.2mm carbon inline seatpost
Bontrager Evoke full-carbon saddle (148g!!!!)
Syntace Megaforce 2 80mm stem (seriously stiff)
USE Atom carbon straight bars
Uberbike lock-on grips
M780 cranks
Praxis Works PF30 conversion BB
Blackspire Mono Veloce Narrow Wide 32t chainring
Crank Bros Eggbeater pedals
M780 shadow plus rear mech
M780 11-36 cassette
Shimano chain with Sram Powerlink
SLX ispec B rear shifter
Formula RX disc brakes
Hope matchmaker mount (this works with a Formula lever!)
Ashima lightweight 180/160 rotors
Hope Pro 2 Evo hubs
BOR XMD333 rims
Pillar triple-butted spokes
Lightweight rear QR
9mm Through QR for front
Schwalbe Rocket Ron 2.25 Pacestar Snakeskin front tyre (tubeless)
Schwalbe Racing Ralph 2.25 Pacestar Snakeskin rear tyre (tubeless)
I took it for the maiden voyage this morning on a fast 2hr XC loops and **** me, this bike is fast. The bike is pretty light, but could go lighter with a few choice mods (I reckon I could take a further 1kg out of it with lighter tyres, cranks and a few other bits). It is massively rigid though and climbs like a goat.
The new Blackspire narrow wide is absolutely fantastic. I would suggest that it performs even better than the RF narrow wides I have been running before and am running on the SB66
I have a Hope T-Rex 40t on back order which should open it up to more hilly adventures.
It’s definitely a keeper.
Love it!